I can't believe some employee has stabbed us in the back again. My previous email was posted on a lame site called The Daily WTF, as if it were some sort of joke. Well I can tell you that I was certainly not joking then, and I am not joking now when I say that I will find the malcontent that leaked the email and send him packing.

Has everyone forgotten how I fired that bastard Rick in a spectacular fashion, just as I promised, when I found out he talked to our interviewee in the elevator? His underwear is still hanging from the tree outside. Hey Mister Email Leaker, if you thought Rick got rough treatment, wait until I find your sorry ass.

Let me make it clear, I expect nothing less than blind obedience from every employee of this company. If you have complaints, put them in an email to me. That way I can put them in your personnel file for later reference in your dismissal letter.

> I'd suggest your displeasure is endemic of your personality and most likely > you have never been happy at any job you have ever had. So do us all a > favor and leave. [...] If you don't like this company -then GET THE HELL > OUT.

Yep -- nothing like a caring management staff with excellent lead-by-example-style leadership. To say nothing of the fact that if one person is unhappy, chances are others are as well.

How about trying to find out what the underlying problems are, and trying to take positive steps to resolve them? You know, what an actual leader would do? Some people need to be reminded that their employees are their company.

I can't believe some employee has stabbed us in the back again. My previous email was posted on a lame site called The Daily WTF, as if it were some sort of joke. Well I can tell you that I was certainly not joking then, and I am not joking now when I say that I will find the malcontent that leaked the email and send him packing.

Has everyone forgotten how I fired that bastard Rick in a spectacular fashion, just as I promised, when I found out he talked to our interviewee in the elevator? His underwear is still hanging from the tree outside. Hey Mister Email Leaker, if you thought Rick got rough treatment, wait until I find your sorry ass.

Let me make it clear, I expect nothing less than blind obedience from every employee of this company. If you have complaints, put them in an email to me. That way I can put them in your personnel file for later reference in your dismissal letter.

Hey I would prefer to work for a manager like that who had the nerve to
be direct! I would much rather deal with this guy than the usual
ball-less weasels who frame every statement in a near apology. Where do
I send my resume?

I don't understand why it is so difficult for management types to understand that employees that are not happy are usually that way for a reason. Laying people off never, ever results in a better company. If you want people to be happy to give you 5/7ths of their lives, you have to give them a reason.

I don't understand why it is so difficult for management types to understand that employees that are not happy are usually that way for a reason. Laying people off never, ever results in a better company. If you want people to be happy to give you 5/7ths of their lives, you have to give them a reason.

I'm not going to defend the unprofessional behavior of the disgruntled employee in the elevator. BUT.. Saying 'so just leave' isn't always reasonable. Sometimes there are large carrots hanging from sticks just a week or a month away: a bonus, vacation time, vesting, etc. Employee retention devices sometimes retain the wrong people. Meanwhile, they may not be good enough to keep the people you want to stay. I remember one CEO saying that what was wrong with the company was 'the negative people in it'. Actually, those were the people who were correct, as time proved..

This reminds me of somebody I know. Let's call him "Peremy J". He spends all day riding the elevators to his competitors' offices and when he sees an obvious interview candidate (looks allergic to the new business suit he is wearing) he tells him how the company sucks to work for.

Once this person is identified they will be fired immediately and in quite a spectacular fashion.

<FONT face=Georgia>And how do you fire someone in "spectacular fashion"? Is he going to have an orchestra playing on the background, circus acrobats twirling behind them, possibly even a sports announcer and play-by-play commentator giving everyone the breakdown?</FONT>

<FONT face=Georgia>I definitely wouldn't work for the company, but I would attend one of their firings.</FONT>

Yes! A competent CEO would say, OK, I'm setting up an anonymous complaint box outside my office. or a round table, or something. No sarcasm, that might actually accomplish something if it was done seriously. But that's an attitude and not a process issue. (A side problem is that deadlines/customer requirements never hold their breath for such things. I remember when the CEO once said, 'Hey everyone, take the afternoon off!', and the CEO went home. Guess what I did? I couldn't go home, I had a hard deadline.. And, people who were supposed to deliver to me, slipped on their side because of the 'half day off'. )

I recently changed jobs. I can say the CEO had a lot to do with it because of the same kind of leadership-deathgrip. Productivity is down, but rather than realize that his people were overworked, he simply became our personal warden to make sure we spent every minute of the day staring at code. Promising to fire people for the slightest infraction of internet use (contrary to the employee manual I signed) and committing general douchebaggery.

So I found another job, and recruited as many other unhappy people as I could. Until I had an offer letter and completed my 2-weeks, I had no problem telling people what problems I had with the company. If there is something seriously wrong with the way they treat people, why should I pretend it's all okay until I'm gone?

If you want people to be happy to give you 5/7ths of their lives, you have to give them a reason.

They do; every week. It's signed too.

Bad-mouthing the company, even a crappy one, especially while still on the payroll, is just wrong.

That said, the paycheck is not necssarily a reason to be happy; lots of folks put up with a sucky job because they have mouths to feed at home.

Work is not necssarily play.

If you enjoy it, that's a bonus for you, and the company might even get a better day of work out of you. If you don't enjoy it, you do it anyway to pay the bills, usually while you are looking elsewhere. At what point you choose to look to leave is usually determined by the level of suckiness in the workplace crossing some threshhold of pain that each individual defines in their own way.

This forum software really needs a "post anonymously" option like Slashdot has. Otherwise I'd tell the story of the boss who was so useless at motivating that he fired the only guy who had the guts to gripe out loud because he thought that would improve morale, not realizing that the rest of us just griped behind his back.

Once this person is identified they will be fired immediately and in quite a spectacular fashion.

<font face="Georgia">And how do you fire someone in "spectacular fashion"? Is he going to have an orchestra playing on the background, circus acrobats twirling behind them, possibly even a sports announcer and play-by-play commentator giving everyone the breakdown?</font>

<font face="Georgia">I definitely wouldn't work for the company, but I would attend one of their firings.</font>

I'm not sure of the specific details, but I am guessing it would involve a wild monkey, angry bees, glue, 2 pounds of olive oil, hand-cuffs,6 dozen fire crackers, an agitated mountain goat, 20 feet of twine, and a dirty toothbrush.

This forum software really needs a "post anonymously" option like Slashdot has. Otherwise I'd tell the story of the boss who was so useless at motivating that he fired the only guy who had the guts to gripe out loud because he thought that would improve morale, not realizing that the rest of us just griped behind his back.

You can always log out and then post. It's not too hard. Get motivated and do it or you're fired!

Once this person is identified they will be fired immediately and in quite a spectacular fashion.

<FONT face=Georgia>And how do you fire someone in "spectacular fashion"? Is he going to have an orchestra playing on the background, circus acrobats twirling behind them, possibly even a sports announcer and play-by-play commentator giving everyone the breakdown?</FONT>

<FONT face=Georgia>I definitely wouldn't work for the company, but I would attend one of their firings.</FONT>

I'm not sure of the specific details, but I am guessing it would involve a wild monkey, angry bees, glue, 2 pounds of olive oil, hand-cuffs,6 dozen fire crackers, an agitated mountain goat, 20 feet of twine, and a dirty toothbrush.

Reminds me of the story about David Stanley (aka Michael Fenne), the erstwhile preacher, sometime head of Pixelon, and con artist.

[The head of Pixelon's investment bank] and his two lieutenants left for Orange County for an emergency board meeting... the first thing [they] heard was the sound of Fenne's voice over the Pixelon public address system. "This is the master speaking," at least a half dozen people present remember Fenne barking. "George better respond to me immediately, and if he doesn't have all the answers I might have to take him out behind the barn for a whooping!" Then, another message rang out,"Frank, report to the woodshed, your uncle is going to give you a whooping." The repeated messages, which appeared to be randomly directed at various employees, might have been funny were it not for the air of fear they created.

Once this person is identified they will be fired immediately and in quite a spectacular fashion.

<font face="Georgia">And how do you fire someone in "spectacular fashion"? Is he going to have an orchestra playing on the background, circus acrobats twirling behind them, possibly even a sports announcer and play-by-play commentator giving everyone the breakdown?</font>

<font face="Georgia">I definitely wouldn't work for the company, but I would attend one of their firings.</font>

I'm not sure of the specific details, but I am guessing it would involve a wild monkey, angry bees, glue, 2 pounds of olive oil, hand-cuffs,6 dozen fire crackers, an agitated mountain goat, 20 feet of twine, and a dirty toothbrush.

Once this person is identified they will be fired immediately and in quite a spectacular fashion.

<font face="Georgia">And how do you fire someone in "spectacular fashion"? Is he going to have an orchestra playing on the background, circus acrobats twirling behind them, possibly even a sports announcer and play-by-play commentator giving everyone the breakdown?</font>

<font face="Georgia">I definitely wouldn't work for the company, but I would attend one of their firings.</font>

I'm not sure of the specific details, but I am guessing it would involve a wild monkey, angry bees, glue, 2 pounds of olive oil, hand-cuffs,6 dozen fire crackers, an agitated mountain goat, 20 feet of twine, and a dirty toothbrush.

Unfortunately I've had the experience working at a company very similar to the one described. The President of the company was constantly sending out emails while not quite as bad as the original post, were far to close for my comfort.

What is most interesting is that the CEO assumes the worst off of partial and incomplete 3rd hand information reported most likely out of context without even bothering to determine exactly what was said and within what context. It could been as innocent as saying that the position required a good bit of overtime. We don't know, and apparently the CEO doesn't care.

The candidate then told the recruiter, who then told us. The recruiter is getting a description of the person who told the candidate this. If necessary I will pay the candidate to come and identify who they talked to.

OMG!

CEO's problem can be solved!

1) Just ask for everyone's status reports and look for that 10-minute gap in time that the employee cannot properly document.

2) Or check the security cameras for people who dare use the fun-filled elevator during work hours (up-down, up-down, weeeeee!).

3) Or check to see if anyone has used their work PC to surf 66.232.98.150. [8-)]

I don't understand why it is so difficult for management types to understand that employees that are not happy are usually that way for a reason. Laying people off never, ever results in a better company. If you want people to be happy to give you 5/7ths of their lives, you have to give them a reason.